Computer users typically use user agent applications such as web browsers to access documents and other resources that are available over a computer network to which their computer is connected. Such resources may be identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), usually a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), which identifies the resource uniquely and provides the information necessary for locating and accessing the resource. A web page or other document, which is displayed on a user agent such as a web browser, may provide a link to the URI of a particular resource. Thus, user agents generally provide an interface allowing a user to activate a link in order to access the corresponding resource. For example, conventional interfaces for user agents such as web browsers include clicking devices, such as a mouse, to allow a user to click on a link to activate it.
The interface of a user agent may serve other functions in addition to activating links. For instance, there may be other types of elements on a web page than just links with which the user may interact. For instance, a user may input information by clicking on a radio button, or by clicking on and typing information in an edit field. Also, the user may be allowed to click on images in the web page in order to display larger versions thereof.
However, the interfaces provided on user agents in mobile or handheld devices may prove to be troublesome to the user. For instance, trying to click small links in web pages on mobile devices at a normal reading zoom level has historically been very error-prone. The latest trend for mobile and handheld devices has been to implement a touch-screen input device to allow the user to use finger touch or a stylus to perform the “click” action. Conventional touch-screen devices normally detect the location of contact of the finger/stylus as a single point on the screen (similar to a mouse click), even though the user made contact with a larger surface area of the screen. This becomes problematic since, due to the size constraints of the mobile or handheld device, it can be difficult for the user to accurately aim the finger or stylus at a specific point on a screen. As a result, the user's attempt to click on a particular interactive element could result in no element or the wrong element being clicked.
Thus, it would be advantageous to provide a less error-prone way of allowing a user to interact with a user agent such as a web browser using his/her finger or a stylus.